Frustration mounts for U.Va. in 69-50 loss to Florida State

Florida State 69, Virginia 50

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Fatigue, inattentiveness, lackluster offense, superior opponents. No matter the reason, the results for Virginia's basketball team are the same.

Florida State came to town and added to the Cavaliers' misery, pulling away for a 69-50 win Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia (14-10, 5-6 ACC) lost its fourth consecutive game, offering only token resistance for the second time in three days and scoring the fewest points at home in 12 years.

"I told our guys (that) I can handle losses," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said, "but the manner in which we lost the last couple of games has been frustrating."

On Monday, Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez controlled the proceedings in an 85-66 win at College Park that was essentially over at halftime.

Florida State's size and balance ruled Wednesday as the Cavaliers wilted in their third game in five days.

Leading scorer Sylven Landesberg was held to a season-low four points on 2-for-8 shooting. Guard Jeff Jones, getting a rare start as Bennett sought to shake up his lineup, led all scorers with 13 points.

But Virginia had little to recommend on offense. The Cavs shot 37.5 percent from the field (18-for-48) as they scored the fewest points in a game at JPJ and the fewest at home since a 60-45 loss to No. 1 North Carolina in 1998.

"Our limitations are there, you can see that," Bennett said. "We struggle to score … but I think when we get down or adversity strikes, we aren't able to muster up enough to rally from it, and that's a concern.

"The mental toughness was lacking today. Fatigue maybe was there, but the mental toughness was not there. Take your pick tonight. It was tough."

Even Landesberg found himself guarded for portions of the game by 6-9 forward Chris Singleton, the ACC's leader in steals.

"All the looks that he got in the lane, they were contested," Bennett said. "It was hard to get inside touches and score inside. Against teams like that, you're going to have to knock down some outside shots to at least stretch them, and we weren't doing that – that's for sure."

Singleton led a balanced attack with 12 points as Florida State (19-7, 7-5 ACC) won consecutive conference games for the first time since Jan. 24.

Reserve guard Luke Loucks hit all four of his shots and finished with 11 points. Seven different players scored at least six points as Florida State, in a peculiar statistical coincidence, shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 50 percent from the foul line.

Most important, FSU limited the Cavaliers to 50 points.

"As we watched their system," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said, "they always seem to be getting their guys open looks. I think as a result of that, our players really heightened their focus. We were able to play a very sound, fundamental defensive game for the entire game, and I thought that made a big difference in the game."

The Cavaliers' upcoming schedule offers no breaks. On Saturday, they face a Clemson team that will have had a week between games and has some work remaining in order to secure an NCAA berth.

Next Tuesday, they travel to Miami, which sits in the bottom half of the conference, but has lost only twice at home. The Cavs then close home against Duke, at Boston College and home versus Maryland.

"I do not think we were fatigued," Scott said. "Our minds were fatigued. We just did not play smart."